{"id":839289,"date":"2026-08-02T06:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T06:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/839289\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T06:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T06:34:09","slug":"trump-climbs-down-on-iran-strikes-after-saudi-alarm-and-threats-from-tehran-us-israel-war-on-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/839289\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump climbs down on Iran strikes after Saudi alarm and threats from Tehran | US-Israel war on Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Donald Trump said on Saturday night that the US would hold off on any new strikes on Iran provided a deal to end <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/us-israel-war-on-iran\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the months-long conflict<\/a> is quickly reached \u2013 marking the president\u2019s latest climbdown from extravagant threats to hit the Tehran regime hard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman called Trump on Saturday to express concerns about his strike plans, it was reported. Trump\u2019s reversal also came after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/iran\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Iran<\/a> threatened to retaliate decisively against its neighbours in the event of US strikes, while Kuwait reported being hit by Iranian drones on Saturday and two ships were attacked off Oman in the strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">One source described as having knowledge of the Trump-Mohammed call told Axios that the Saudi crown prince had \u201curged Trump to de-escalate and refrain from launching the strikes\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The Associated Press also reported the conversation, citing its own source. It said the Saudis were concerned that if the US targets Iran\u2019s energy infrastructure or carries out massive strikes on other key infrastructure, Tehran could respond by carrying out similar attacks on the kingdom and other Gulf countries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The crown prince during Saturday\u2019s call sought clarity from Trump on what potential new action he was weighing to take against Iran, the Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">A White House official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and requested anonymity, confirmed to the Associated Press that Trump and Prince Mohammed spoke on Saturday but did not offer any detail about the substance of their conversation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Saudi Arabia earlier this week joined the US in striking logistics and weapons sites used by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, but has been urging the US and Iran to get back to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">CBS News reported that the US and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/israel\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Israel<\/a> were planning joint strikes, possibly throughout the weekend, with oil refineries and power plants among possible targets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Iran warned this weekend against any \u201cadventurous action\u201d by the US and said it \u2060would retaliate decisively. Tehran foreign minister Abbas Araqchi\u2019s comments in separate phone calls on Saturday with senior Turkish, Pakistani and Saudi officials came just hours after Kuwait\u2019s army said it destroyed hostile \u2060drones launched by Iran against several vital facilities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">A government facility in northern Kuwait and civilian property belonging to a company \u200bon Bubiyan Island were hit, with falling \u200bshrapnel causing material damage but no casualties, the Kuwaiti \u200barmy said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on Saturday it had received reports of two maritime incidents off Oman, including one in which a tanker was struck by an unknown projectile that damaged the engine room. In the other incident, the master of a tanker reported seeing a large splash and an explosion close to the vessel, though no damage was reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Iran\u2019s Araqchi told regional counterparts that any attacks by the US and \u200bIsrael or participation by regional countries in such actions would be \u200cmet with a \u201cproportionate response\u201d. Nournews, a \u200cmedia outlet affiliated with Iran\u2019s top security body, said on Saturday that US attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure would prompt Iranian strikes on oilfields in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the gasfields of Qatar and Israel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The developments appeared to have given Trump pause for thought, as he posted on Saturday night in characteristically grandiose language that \u201cthe USA is locked and loaded\u201d to strike Iran with \u201cmilitary terror, strength, and power not seen since World War II\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cDespite this, we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern countries, to hold off any attack,\u201d he continued, adding that he would delay strikes \u201csubject to being able to rapidly make a deal\u201d. It would have to include \u201cimmediate, complete and total opening of the Hormuz strait, and an end to Iran\u2019s nuclear threat\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Trump claimed that \u201cthe country of Israel joins me in this commitment\u201d. However the government of Benjamin Netanyahu has previously disowned supposed agreements that were announced by the US president, such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/jun\/11\/trump-seize-control-iran-oil-gas-ceasefire\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">failed \u201cmemorandum of understanding\u201d<\/a>, and has been at odds with the Trump administration over how to proceed against Iran as well as its proxy Hezbollah operating from Lebanon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">With Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump said on Saturday night that the US would hold off on any new strikes on Iran&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":839290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-839289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}